FIRST FRIDAY is a nonprofit organization dedicated to breast cancer awareness, detection, education and community outreach. The mission of FIRST FRIDAY is “To help save lives by increasing awareness of the importance of early detection, and to provide free screening mammograms for those in need.”

The members of FIRST FRIDAY have been living and working that mission since the group was founded in 1994, named after a reminder for women to do breast self-examinations on the first Friday of every month. Since its founding, FIRST FRIDAY has paid for more than 16,000 screening mammograms for those in need in the Coastal Bend of South Texas.

FIRST FRIDAY is a volunteer organization made up of members who have been impacted by breast cancer. Some are breast cancer survivors, some are health care professionals, some have mothers or sisters who have fought the disease, some have friends who are fighting now. Whatever their connection, the members of FIRST FRIDAY are passionate about helping those in need get the screening mammogram that can help save lives.

History

FIRST FRIDAY was created in 1994 by a small group of local women who came together to fight breast cancer in South Texas. The name FIRST FRIDAY was developed as a reminder to women to regularly do breast self-examinations on the first Friday of each month. The purpose of breast self-examination is to screen for and detect breast cancer as early as possible.

FIRST FRIDAY has held annual fundraising events featuring breast cancer survivor celebrity speakers like journalist Linda Ellerbee and the late actress Marcia Wallace. There have also been fashion show luncheons where the models are breast cancer survivors. Most recently, FIRST FRIDAY held the BRAVO event where community members decorated bras and those one-of-a-kind art pieces were auctioned off.

FIRST FRIDAY partnered with CHRISTUS Spohn Health System to bring breast cancer awareness, detection, education and community outreach to South Texas. Proceeds from the celebrity events, along with CHRISTUS Spohn Health System’s annual contributions, have underwritten more than 16,000 mammograms for South Texas women.